Secret Time
by realtrashwriting
Summary: When you're a superhero, your whole life is made up of secrets, but if you're lucky, you'll be able to share at least some of them with someone you trust. Role Swap AU!


**For Shiranai Atsune, because I took WAY too long on your prompt, I wrote you two, slightly different fics. This is the first one, but the second one is on route. I hope you enjoy!**

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**Secret Time**

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"Okay, it's your turn." He gestured to her gallantly with a polite extension of his hand. "After you, my lady."

She rolled her eyes and tossed her staff up into the air, catching it with ease. "I still can't believe you bought a banana costume for Halloween. And _wore_ it."

"My lady-"

"In _public_."

"Mark my words," he said, leaning against the tiles of the roof they were on. "That costume will come in handy. You'll see." He cleared his throat and tried to cut through her snickering. "It is _your_ turn."

"Fine." She let her smile ease into something more contrite as she said, "Secret time: I once stole my crush's phone from his locker in order to delete a voicemail I accidentally sent him."

Mister Bug gasped at her from his spot on the rooftop and nearly dropped his yoyo on the head of an unsuspecting cat below.

"Stop," he whispered in mock horror. "You didn't."

"I did." The memory of it alone seemed to make Lady Noir almost shy in her admission, even though she was trying to come off as nonchalant.

"I did _not_ know that about you," said Mister Bug softly, before regaining some of his charm, "but it couldn't have been that bad. I mean, it was just a voicemail. Did you say something rude to him in it?"

"Quite the opposite. I literally called him 'hot stuff'. It was a disaster." She buried her face in her hands and cringed at the memory. "I had to get it deleted. I mean, how would I be able to face him the next day?"

"You don't call _me_ 'hot stuff'," he said sourly, and Lady Noir looked up from her mode of self-pity and rolled her eyes

"That's hardly the point."

"Yeah, well, being complimented is hardly a problem. I doubt he would have been too bothered by it."

_I wouldn't have_, thought Mister Bug. If Lady Noir was the one calling him hot, he was certain he'd never be bothered by anything ever again.

"It was _embarrassing_ for me." That was hard to believe, and she seemed to realize that too when he gave her little response. Shaking her head wryly, she added, "Like you've never said anything embarrassing to your crush that you wished you could take back."

"I don't know." Mister Bug pocketed his yoyo and looked over at her slyly. "_Have_ I said anything embarrassing to you, My Lady?"

Lady Noir laughed, the beautiful sound of it filling up the air, even if it was at his expense.

"Oh Buggaboy," she teased. "You're adorable."

"I'll take that as a _yes_."

"Don't be like that." She looked off and away from him. "Besides me, I'm sure you've had plenty of successful crushes. Some that you've swept off their feet."

_None like you_, he wanted to say. _It's different with you_.

"You're too special," he declared instead, earning himself a cute giggle.

"They should be calling you Lovebug instead," said Lady Noir. She was staring up at the moon now, half lost in its beauty just as Mister Bug found himself lost in hers. "That's your favourite subject."

"It hardly suits me," he said, gesturing to his dotted suit half-heartedly. "Secret time: I don't think being a ladybug is for me."

She looked at him, smile gone and replaced with a frown. "Why not?"

"Ladybugs are supposed to be lucky, and I'm not lucky in love. You know that."

A beat passed between them, uneasy and filled with a memory he knew that neither of them really _wanted_ to revisit, even though he had forced them to do just that. Her eyes met his as she said, "I do."

Her gaze didn't waver, just as honest as it had been months ago when he'd admitted to being in love with her. Mister Bug felt that familiar wash of painful affection now, and looking at Lady Noir - quiet, assured, confident - he knew that she felt somewhat similar. The green of her eyes flashed under the moonlight with an echo of an apology he had heard before. She still _cared_ about him, and he would be a fool to try and jeopardize that for his own selfish reasons.

Even if his confession hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped, he didn't want that to be all he was about.

"Secret time," he said suddenly, "I am very lucky to have you as my friend. I cherish that above all else." He bumped their shoulders together and was pleased to see her hazard a smile in his direction.

"That's not a secret, Mister Bug," she said finally. "I knew that."

"You knew that," he agreed and smiled back at her. "Good." He straightened himself once in a stretch before letting a little bit of the earlier tension bleed away. It was time to do his thing. "Time for a real secret. I've always wanted to be a Physics Teacher."

The last of Lady Noir's stiffness disappeared like a bubble finally popped. "_Really_?"

"Yeah. My dad wants me to take over the family business, but-" Mister Bug shrugged. "-I'm not interested. I understand _why_ of course. It's something that my parents built together." He thought briefly of the bakery, of the warmth that used to be there when his mother was around and the stifling heat of it choking at him now that she was gone. "What I really want for my future is to be a teacher because that's more for _me_, you know?"

She nodded. "I understand. When did you know you wanted to do that?"

"A few years ago maybe? I'm not sure. I just knew one day that I wanted to help kids out in any way I could. With all the young people getting akumatized, I feel like they could use some help."

It was the first time he had told anyone that. Nobody, not even Nino, knew that he wanted to be a teacher, or _why_ he did. Lady Noir was the first person he'd ever told, and that thought was reassuring in its own way, despite its contradictions. There were many secrets between them, walls that they had up that could not be torn down, but honesty was their strength. It felt safe to reveal the secrets in his heart. "I've seen the way you handle some of those exact kids when we get akumatized," Lady Noir admitted. "You're good with them."

Mister Bug felt himself preen a little at the praise. He hadn't realized that she had noticed those things about him, and it confirmed what he had always known: that she did pay attention to him. "Thanks."

She pulled her long, black braid into her lap and fiddled with the ends of it. "My turn. Secret time: I feel the opposite way. I really want to take over the family business. It's what I love. I love creating new things and putting things together. It's like trying to solve a puzzle."

"No wonder you always have good ideas when I get my Lucky Charm," he said. "In fact, I bet you'd make a great Mister Bug."

She snorted. "Me?"

"Yeah! We could even call you Ladybug!" He grew excited just thinking about it. He wondered if her eyes would stay green, if her hair would remain in its trademark braid, long as a cat's tail and curling at her legs. What would his lady look like, dressed to create and bring peace to Paris instead of to destroy? She would certainly be miraculous as whichever hero she chose to be that day. "The spots would be a perfect match."

Lady Noir grinned widely. "Maybe, but I like being your sword and shield. I get all the action. Besides, I could never replicate those _abs_." She poked at his stomach. "You're _abs_-olutely shredded, Buggaboy."

The pair of them dissolved into laughter as she tickled him, and his last thought before being completely unable to think past her hands was how lucky he truly was.


End file.
